I have a CT Scan soon and I'm nervous any tips or advice on what to expect? Nurse over phone just said I can't have any caffeine 6hrs prior or food 4 hrs prior,only water to drink and am ok to drive and takes roughly up to 1 hour.
CT angiogram : I have a CT Scan soon... - British Heart Fou...
CT angiogram
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Morning, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Only discomfort is the cannula insertion which is normally like a blood test. If you do not like needles, I suggest Elma cream (available online 5mg) and you will not feel a thing. The CT scan is nothing to worry about,,
it's a pretty straightforward one. If it's a CT angiogram, they will put a Canula in your arm to inject some contrast liquid to highlight your arteries in the imagery. You will be laying down and the machine goes into a sort of mini-tunnel. You'll hear and be able to speak with the lab staff all the time, and they will give you instructions on breathing. The contrast injection will make you feel a bit warm flush, you might get a bit of a metallic taste in your mouth for a few seconds or feel like you are wetting yourself (but it's just a very brief feeling). They told you no caffeine or food because they might speed up your heart rate. It this test, the slower the heart rate, the clearer the images will be.
if it’s a Ct scan, really nothing to worry about. It also depends on what they want to look at. It’s just a like having your photo taken by a large polo mint but a bit noisier. There are several different types of scans, one where they may put dye into you via a cannula for one that they put a drug into you to make your heart work harder. I’ve had a couple and really is nothing to worry about.
Hello there, I'm also having my first CT angiogram on Tuesday so we can be a little apprehensive together ❤️
I am looking at it as the best way to find out if I have heart disease or if I have escaped my family history. Good luck xx
Good luck for Tuesday 🤞 I will let you know how I get on and hopefully will be able to reassure you x trying to stay positive
well I had mine this morning, the sensation as the contrast dye went in was very unusual but apart from that nothing untoward happened. Now I wait for the results.....
Hope yours goes well too xxx
glad it went well and fingers crossed for good news when you get the results 🤞
Sadly mine didn't go too well.....
Had CT scan they put cannula in and did some pics but cos heart rate was too fast didn't put dye in tried beta blocker in vein but still a little too high for good pics so depending on what they see on the pics they did get will either try again another day or do a different test so just a waiting game again xx
So feeling a little deflated that I didn't get the full scan but it can't be helped x
oh no, that must have been very frustrating for you 🥺
I guess I was lucky that I responded well to the beta blocker (it really zonked me out for a few hours) but at least they got a few pics of your heart and can take it from there.
Good luck xx
Results today from my CT scan-calcium score is 0 🙌 but due to high heart rate didn't have complete CT coronary angiography. Consultant said this is quite reassuring and means there is a very low likelihood of significant CAD and has made no further follow up arrangements. I can also stop my Bisoprolol and aspirin.
I've been having chest pain, lightheadedness and occasional tingling down my left arm for the past few months but has lessened.
when I had my ct angiogram I was told not to drive, I had mine done at Basildon cardiac centre, I didn’t feel a thing all very good nothing to worry about
It's just a big x-ray really. They will probably take a set of images, then inject you with contrast medium and take a second series of images for comparison.
When I had mine, they gave me a beta blocker to slow my heart rate and stop the images from blurring. This was followed by the contrast medium which made me feel really sick for a few moments and they decided not to continue in case I vomited in the scanner. I felt fine after about 30 seconds, so they could have continued if they wanted to.
I was able to drive home after about 20 minutes.
I'd had the pre-contrast scan, so they were able to get some results from that.
Good luck - it's inconvenient and a little bit uncomfortable, but painless.
Had CT scan they put cannula in and did some pics but cos heart rate was too fast didn't put dye in tried beta blocker in vein but still a little too high for good pics so depending on what they see on the pics they did get will either try again another day or do a different test so just a waiting game again xx
So feeling a little deflated that I didn't get the full scan but it can't be helped x
I had the pre contrast pictures will they get enough info from that do you think?
Mine showed minor calcifications and the cardiologist seemed happy with the result.
Was this just from the pre contrast pics?
Have you been advised to have any other tests ?
Yes, this was just from the pre-contrast pics. I haven't been advised to have any more tests, but the cardiologist did ask my GP to keep an eye on me. I do have a pacemaker which takes care of my heart block, and I was sent for the CT angiogram because the cardiologist felt I was too young to have a pacemaker (63 when the pacemaker was fitted 3 years ago) and because I was a heavy smoker.
Results today from my CT scan-calcium score is 0 🙌 but due to high heart rate didn't have complete CT coronary angiography. Consultant said this is quite reassuring and means there is a very low likelihood of significant CAD and has made no further follow up arrangements. I can also stop my Bisoprolol and aspirin.
I've been having chest pain, lightheadedness and occasional tingling down my left arm for the past few months but has lessened.
I recall feeling so anxious about this because it has the word Angiogram in it……worked myself up into such a tizz, I’d bottled it first time around (fear of the unknown!).
But I realised that it’s all well and good going to my GP with chest pain and telling the Cardiologist about my chest pain but not be willing to have the diagnostic tests done. It’s silly! Yes these tests can be scary but they are used to help us. We are either reassured that all is well and if not, the information gained will enable the Cardiologist to give thought to appropriate treatments!
Also, how reassured do we really feel burying our heads in the sand?
So I went second time round. The scanner is like a gigantic polo. A cannula will be placed. A tube is connected to it which on the other end is connected to a machine. They’ll try and make you comfy. They need your heart rate to be low enough to get good pictures so if you’re anxious and your heart rate is elevated, they’ll inject through your cannula a little dose of beta blocker to slow it down. I needed two doses.
When your heart rate is as they need it to be, the staff will go into the small room that looks into yours. You might then be in the room by yourself. But they can see and hear you. You can hear them. They gave me instructions to breathe in, breathe out, hold my breath etc during the scan and told me when they would pass the dye through. For me, this was the part of the scan I’d been dreading the most! it felt like a facial flush. I don’t recall any other sensation. Just my face went really hot for a few seconds.
It’s done fairly quickly, nothing invasive, cannula removed, away you go.
I remember leaving telling myself ‘I don’t know what the fuss was about’ and I’m sure you will to.
Good luck 👍
thankyou for your reply. This has reassured me so thankyou 👍 I think it's the fear of the unknown and we get ourselves all anxious about it but I'm trying to stay as calm as possible and see that I need this test to put my mind at rest.
Had CT scan they put cannula in and did some pics but cos heart rate was too fast didn't put dye in tried beta blocker in vein but still a little too high for good pics so depending on what they see on the pics they did get will either try again another day or do a different test so just a waiting game again xx
So feeling a little deflated that I didn't get the full scan but it can't be helped x
Hi. Just to add to the comments, when I had my scan they wanted to put a gtn tablet under my tongue.
Unfortunately, one of the meds I take reacts badly to gtn so I had to reschedule the scan to a later date to ensure their were no issues using the gtn.
Other than that no issues at all with the scan. Best of luck with yours.
Hello. I'm a big wuss, and I was fine in the end.. although I do remember feeling tearful, just go with the flow and let it all out.. it's over so quickly. All the best to you, D
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